11 Monroe seniors awarded Ohio Governor’s Merit Scholarship

11 Monroe seniors representing the top 5% of their graduating class have been named recipients of more than $200,000 in financial assistance thanks to a new incentive to encourage Ohio’s top graduating high school students to attend a college or university in the state.

Monroe seniors Ingrid Escalante-Hernandez, Mason Fugate, Chase Grinstead, Jaxson Hounchell, Emma Kelly, Brenna Lemoine, Allison Morris, Hope Muncy, Jimmy Sem, Evan Wills and Vanessa Wolf are eligible to receive the scholarship.

Launched in December 2023, the Governor’s Merit Scholarship program provides up to $5,000 in scholarship funding (renewable up to four years) to seniors graduating in the top 5% of their class in each of Ohio’s public and chartered, nonpublic (private) high schools, as well as homeschooled applicants. Funds may be applied to tuition and fees, books and educational expenses, room and board, and transportation costs and do not need to be paid back.

According to the Ohio Department of Higher Education, 35-40% of Ohio’s highest achieving high school graduates attend college or university in another state each year. On average, 66% of all U.S. college students stay to work in the state from which they graduate.

The GMS program, established by Governor DeWine and the Ohio Legislature, was designed to reduce financial barriers preventing Ohio’s top high school graduates from pursuing higher education, recognize the impressive scholastic achievement of Ohio’s top graduates, and incentivize Ohio’s high achieving students to stay in the state following high school and college graduation.

The number of students eligible for the GMS is determined by the Ohio Department of Higher Education and is based on the number of students enrolled and in the third year of their graduation cohort at the end of the school year.